River Arts draws 30,000 on second day despite new admission fee

Illustrator RahLeeCoh Ishakarah, a student at Memphis College of Art, works on a chalk drawing for the Brooks Museum at the festival.

Artist Teresa White makes an ornament during a glass-blowing demonstration at the annual fest.

Freddie Campbell, 7, studies a metal sculpture by local artist Elisha Gold at the annual River Arts Festival, where more than 170 artists featured their work along South Main.The event ends Sunday.

"We just love dancing in general and the music was good," said Kimmel, 28, of Florida.

The festival's musical events opened with singer/song writers Max Pickard and Adam Miles and hip hop artist Casey Jones on the First Tennessee stage and spread down Second Street as the day progressed.

Carol Watkins, River Arts Festival co-director, said the musical acts are local.

"We partner with the Memphis Music Foundation, and they partner with (other local organizations)," She said. "They assign the slots on the stages."

This year, the festival added a new feature that some thought would hurt attendance — a $5 admission fee.

Beth Brock, 41, attended the festival with her husband Ben Brock, 42, and said the admission fees weren't bad.

"We are all about Downtown and local so we love this," Brock said. "The cover charge is no problem. It's a great thing to support, it's worth it.

Thomas and Kimmel weren't bothered by the pricing, either, and said in addition to dancing, they bought art from some of the 175 artists participating in the festival that ends Sunday.

Lee Askew, River Arts Festival co-director, said the festival, which drew more than 30,000 people on Saturday, is the only fine-arts fair in Memphis.

"Everybody that comes here has made everything they sell, and they are schooled in their craft," Watkins said. "They also have to be juried in."

Six "jurors" judge whether art is worthy of being on display.

"You don't just buy a booth to get in; you have to be let in," Askew said.

While preserving the festival's art integrity, organizers are making sure the food quality is getting better.

"If you're a foodie, we got you covered," Askew said. "If you love music, we got you covered. If you love art or just want to see people, we've got you covered."